56 pages • 1 hour read
Lisa BarrThe Goddess of Warsaw
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Browning
Content Warning: This section discusses or mentions death and murder, the Holocaust and antisemitism, and suicide.
The Browning is an important symbol in the book. It is the make of the firearm used by the baron to bludgeon Bina’s father to death; she later demands the same make of gun from Stach to kill the baron with. In this instance, it becomes an explicit symbol of both revenge and poetic justice, speaking to the theme of The Conflation of Justice and Revenge.
Even after killing the baron with the Browning, however, Bina does not let go of it. She adopts it as her last name when she takes on a new identity as Lena Browning in America. Bina’s desire to hold onto this particular aspect of her past indicates how deep-seated her motivation for revenge is. The Browning pistol is symbolic of the first time Bina is able to exact revenge for a personal tragedy; her decision to adopt this as her name foreshadows how she will continue to do this for the rest of her life as Lena.
The Violin
The Stradivarius violin that belongs to the Behrmans is another key symbol in the novel. The Behrmans were famous violinists who were sent to the Warsaw Ghetto with the rest of the city’s Jews. They refused to give up on their music, however, and continued to play the violin on the ghetto streets until they were taken away to a concentration camp. The Behrmans’ commitment to playing the violin despite their circumstances is a form of resistance, speaking to the theme of Resistance and Survival in the Face of Oppression.
After the Behrmans were taken away, their children, Eryk and Dina, became the custodians of the violin. Eryk uses the bow of the violin to stab the Judenrat officer Kapitan to death. In this instance, the violin continues to be a form of resistance, but a different one—Kapitan’s murder is ordered and orchestrated by the ZOB. However, Eryk’s usage of the violin bow also speaks to the theme of The Conflation of Justice and Revenge, as he is specifically exacting revenge on Kapitan for what happened to his parents.
When Bina leaves the ghetto, Eryk gives Bina the violin in the hope that it will help save Dina’s life. While Bina doesn’t end up needing it for this, she does eventually trade it in for her own survival. This usage of the violin underlines the extreme measures that sometimes need to be taken in dangerous circumstances, such as the ones the Jews faced under Nazi occupation.
Eventually, the violin finds its way back into Dina’s possession. While Dina doesn’t play this particular instrument, she does play the piano. She specifically credits music for saving her life, and because she survives, she is able to pay homage to her parents’ legacy and commemorates the 93 girls who ended their own lives in the Great Synagogue. Once again, the violin becomes a symbol of resistance, signifying the resilience of the human spirit and the healing power of music and art.
Documentation
Documentation is an important motif throughout the book. Jakub is a member of the Oyneg Shabbos, a historical archival movement that really existed in the Warsaw Ghetto. Although a fictional character, Jakub embodies the spirit and intent of the archive, as he encourages people to document life in the ghetto as a way to ensure that Jewish stories, voices, and perspectives are not erased in the Holocaust. Documentation in this format becomes a path to Resistance and Survival in the Face of Oppression.
The Jews are not the only ones who indulge in documentation. The Müller brothers are Nazi filmmakers. Lukas’s ambush of the ZOB is filmed by his crew, as he intends to document the Nazi victory over the ghetto. Documentation, in this case, is being used as a tool for oppression. Müller attempts the same things in his efforts to make a move on Leni Riefenstahl’s life, who was herself a propagandist filmmaker during the Nazi era. The Nazis’ attempts to use documentation as well underline the immense power it has to influence attitudes and actions and to shape history.
Finally, Bina herself uses documentation to tell her story via her biopic. The film is her attempt to tie up all the loose threads in her life: She exposes her true identity to the world both in the film and by killing Lukas at the festival where it is being introduced for the first time. The film thus becomes a catalyst for her personal redemption.
